Page 25 - The Edge - Fall 2017

CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES CONTRIBUTING ARTICLE

BY HOWARD FISCHER

Study says 1 in 5 public school

teacher positions un lled

More than 1,300 teaching positions are still un lled four weeks into the school year
according to a new report.
e survey released September 26 by the Arizona School Personnel Administrators
Association of 135 school districts and charter schools found that they began the year
with more than 7,000 vacancies. What that means is they could not nd quali ed PHOTO BY HOWARD FISCHER/CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
applicants for close to one position out of every ve.
Potentially more signi cant, Justin Wing, the association’s past president who
conducted the study, said he found that more than 500 teachers have resigned so far this
year, some simply by abandoning their positions and walking away.
Wing said most of the vacancies are being handled by long-term substitutes. But he
said some of the gap was being made up by people teaching extra classes, with other
schools either combining classes to the point where it exceeds the school’s class size limits
or even where districts had to create multi-grade classrooms. Clarisse White details on September 26 how she is
using a tuition grant program to parlay her political
science degree into a master's degree in education
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 at the University of Arizona.

Water, Fire & Vandalism Restoration

24 HOUR

EMERGENCY SERVICE

Mold, Asbestos & Lead Abatement
Complete Content Processing & 20,000 ft Storage Facility

Licensed In-House Construction Restoration-Remodeling Division

480.833.4538

www.eastvalleydisaster.com

Contract # #17-15P-02 Contract # ADEQ17-140160

25